Cycle speeding-machine.



Patented July 25, I899.

A. E. GROSSET.

CYCLE SPEEDING MACHINE.

(Application filed Nov. 29, 1897. Renewed June 28. 1899.

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No. 629,746. Patented July 25, I899.

' A. E. GROSSET.

CYCLE SPEEDING MACHINE.

(Application filed Nov. 29, 1897, Renewed June 28. 1899.;

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No. 629,746. Patented July. 25, I899.

A. E. GROSSET. CYCLE SPEEDING MACHINE.

(Application filed Nov. 29, 1897. Renewed June 28, 1899.)

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AUGUSTE ELIE GROSSET, OF BRUSSELS, BELGIUM.

CYCLE SPEEDlNG-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 629,746, dated July 25, 1899. Application filed November 29, 1897. Renewed June 28, 1899. Serial No. 722,186. (No model.)

T0 at whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, AUGUSTE ELIE GROSSET, a citizen of the French Republic, residing at Brussels, in the Kingdom of Belgium, have invented certain new and useful Improve-' by a rider or cyclist driving pedals mounted in a fixed frame, means being provided for moving the legs of the automaton to correspond with the movement of the legs of the rider. means for bringing all of the automatons back to their starting-point regardless of the position in which they may have stopped, and also means by which the apparatus may be used for training purposes, the connections with the automatons being broken.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of the apparatus; Fig. 2, a transverse section through line A B of Fig. 1; Fig. 3, an enlarged view of the clutches by the aid of which automatons are brought back to the starting-point. Fig. 4 shows the means by which automatons may be disconnected from the driving mechanism. Fig. 5 is a plan of the apparatus. Fig. 6 is an enlarged view of a portion of the automaton, and Fig. 7 is an enlarged view of a portion of the driving-chain.

The apparatus comprises a frame made of heavy beams 1, united by cross-pieces 2, resting upon feet 3. Upon the beams are fixed at suitable distances supports 4, upon which boards 5 rest. A slot 6 is left between the adjacent boards, and vertically underneath each of these is an iron trough 7, running parallel therewith. These troughs are fixed at the point 8 to the bottom of the supports 4, and the ends are fastened to the supports 9.

At one end of the main frame is arranged The mechanism is also provided with a frame B, mounted on a standard 10, fixed upon the floor 11. The, frame carries a saddle 12 and handle-bar 13 and is fitted with pedals and their cranks, the whole arrangement being similar to the corresponding parts of a bicycle.

The automaton 15 is a puppet whose feet 17 and legs 18 are articulated. This puppet is fixed upon a bicycle G, the wheels 20 and 21 ofwhich rest upon the rounded edges of the slot 6. Underneath the crank-hanger 22 of the bicycle G is a rigid bar 23, passing freely through the slot 6 and carrying a balancing-weight 24, which causes the wheels to strongly adhere to the track. This weight is provided with two ears 25, projectinginto the trough immediately below the automaton and without touching the bottom of the trough. To each end of the weight is fixed a chain 26, passing over pinions 27, 28, 29, and 30, all located in the same plane. Y

Upon the axle 31 of the pinion 28 is keyed a larger pinion 32, arranged in the same plane,

with a smaller pinion 33 fastened upon the axle 34 of the crank-hanger of the frame B. The two wheels last mentioned are connected together by a chain 35. Upon axle 34 is also fastened a pinion 36, arranged in the same plane with a pinion 37, mounted upon a shaft 38, carrying a fiy-wheel 39. These two pinions are connected by chain 40. The crankshaft 43 of the bicycle carries a sprocket-wheel 2, connected, by means of the chain 41,wit-h a toothed rim'44 on wheel 21. p

The operation of the apparatus so far described is as follows: The automaton being set at the starting-point, a bicyclist mounts a such that its inertiawill substantially correspond with that of the rider on an ordinary bicycle, so that the effort which the rider must use to set the fly-wheel in v motion corresponds to the effort which he would be compelled to make in starting the machine on which he rides. Likewise in spur-ting the same corresponding effort would have to be used. When the automaton has traveled from the starting-pointD to the finish E, it automatically stops by means of the formation of the chain 26, which is deprived of a number of links at a certain point. hen this .smooth portion of the chain comes into contact with the driving-pinion 28, the latter continues to rotate and slip upon the chain, thus making it possible for the rider on frame 13 to continue without injury to the apparatus and he may thus finish out the last part of a race at the highest possible speed. To return the automaton to its starting point, chain 26 is moved in the direction of the arrow 45, this being done by means of the crank 46, fixed upon the shaft of pinion 30. To effect this and also when using the bicycleframe 13 for training purposes, the pinion 28 may by the hereinafter-described clutch system be rendered independent of the shaft 31.

It will be observed that if the gearing is such that the speed of the automaton is one hundred times less than the speed which the rider moving the automaton would develop by riding an ordinary bicycle a travel by the automaton of thirty feet would represent an expenditure of energy on the part of the rider which would carry him three thousand feet onan ordinary wheel. Furthermore, by properly proportioning the wheel 21 and the sprocket-wheel 22 the movement of the legs of the puppet may be made 'to correspond stroke for stroke with the legs of the rider.

It will be evident that in accordance with the purpose of the apparatus a number of automatons may be arranged side by side, as shown in the drawings, each automaton in such case having its independent drivingframe B, so that a number of cyclists working at the same time may produce all of the features of a race.

In case several automatons are used it is necessary to provide means for bringing back to the starting-point each of the automatons,

regardless of the positions in which they may be left. For this purpose I have devised the following arrangement in combination with the mechanism which drives the automaton by means of the crank 46.

against the neighboring pinion 30, which thus; becomes engaged, and that when all of the automatons have stopped at the same distance from the starting-point it is only necessary to turn the crank 46 and bring them all back simultaneously to the starting-point. hen the automatons have stopped at different distances from the starting-point, they are first brought back simultaneously in the way already described until one of them reaches the starting-point. Then its corresponding toothed plate 49 is put out of gear by causing the plate to slide upon the key 50 by means of levers 53 and 5a, the latter of which is pivoted upon a supporting-bar 55 and connected to the toothed plate by means of a ring which does not interfere with the rotation of the plate. lhen as each successive automaton reaches the starting-point it may be cut out in the same way. As already stated, it is necessary to disengage the pinion 28 from its shaft, so as to detach the corresponding driving-frame B when the automatons have to be brought back'to the startingpoint. In using the apparatus for training, also, pinion 28 should be disengaged from the shaft. For this purpose each pinion 28 is loosely mounted upon a shaft 31, as shown in Fig. 4, and is fitted with a clutch device similar to the above described. The pinion 28 is provided with teeth on one side and a toothed disk movable upon a key along the shaft 31 and is manipulated by the lever 57. All of the levers 57 may be united and moved by a single bar 58.

Having described my invention, I claim 1. I11 a bicycle speeding-machine, the combination of a driving device consisting of a pair of pedals mounted in aframe, an automaton mounted to run on a track, and provided with rotating pedals,and connections between the driving-pedals and the automaton, and means whereby the pedals of the automaton will correspond stroke for stroke with those of the driving device, substantially as described.

2. In a cycle speeding-machine, the combination of a frame carrying rotatable drivingpedals, an automatom adapted to traverse a track, gearing between the pedals and the an tomaton and means whereby the automaton will automatically stop at the end of its track while the driving-pedals continue in motion.

3. In a cycle speeding-machine, the combination of a frame carrying rotatable drivingpedals, a straight track, an automaton mov* ing along said track, an endless chain connected with said automaton and gearing whereby the pedals will drive the chain, and means for disconnecting the gearing from the chain, for the purpose set forth.

:1:- In a cycle speeding-machine, the combination of an automaton consisting of a bicycle carrying ariderhaving articulated legs, a track upon which the automaton travels, a pair of stationary driving-pedals, and connections between the pedals and automaton, whereby the movements of the legs of the lat IIO ter will correspond with the strokes ofthe In testimony whereof I have signed this driving-pedals. specification in the presence of two subscrib- Io 5. Ina cycle speeding-machine, an automaing Witnesses. ton traveling over a straight track, an endless AUGUSTE EI IE GROSSET chain moving the same, driving mechanism for said chain, means for disconnecting the Vitnesses:

driving mechanism and means for reversing GEORGE BEDE,

the movement of the chain. GREGORY PHELAN. 

